


I Wanna Get Stuck Between Your Teeth Like Cotton Candy (So You Remember Me Darling)

by mthrfkrgdhrwego (universalchampbalor)



Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV 2020)
Genre: Alex Mercer Has Anxiety (Julie and the Phantoms), Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Human, Anonymous Sex, Bathhouses, Bisexual Reggie Peters (Julie and The Phantoms), Casual Sex, Cruising, Eventual Smut, Explicit Sexual Content, First Time, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Reggie Is The Best Bro, Semi-Public Sex, Sexual Experimentation, ask to tag, finally me technically being a los angeleno is useful for something, i didnt bother really researching this tbh, most of the random LA shit is based on me and my family being from there lmao, set in the 90s (derogative), some probably VERY STRONG vibes of reggie/alex and reggie/luke tbh, there's gotta be emotional buildup yall. its the only way i experience emotions lmao, this first part is just reggie and alex being awkward and anxious together tbh, this is why i shouldnt be allowed to read books about the history of public gay sex
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-19
Updated: 2021-02-19
Packaged: 2021-03-15 08:35:01
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,627
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29556411
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/universalchampbalor/pseuds/mthrfkrgdhrwego
Summary: “It’s a, uh. It’s a bathhouse? And it’s…not exactly for ‘hanging out’.” Alex explains hesitantly, putting those last words in finger quotes. He desperately hopes that Reggie makes the inference here, so he won’t have to say it, but he’s not exactly banking on it. He loves Reggie, considers him a brother, but he’s not exactly the best with subtly.Or: The Luke/Alex cruising fic no one asked for
Relationships: Alex Mercer/Luke Patterson (Julie and The Phantoms)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 21





	I Wanna Get Stuck Between Your Teeth Like Cotton Candy (So You Remember Me Darling)

**Author's Note:**

> so i bought a book titled "Peek: Inside the Private World of Public Sex" and it's ABSOLUTELY FASCINATING and the chapters about bathhouses were so intriguing and this is really the only media I interact with that would like. work with this AU so, here: have some Bullshit. 
> 
> also they're all 18 because I don't feel like being crucified for the like 3rd time this week lmao. womp womp.

Alex chews on his thumb, wearing his teeth against his nail, long since picked clean of his usual polish. He stares through the wall in front of him.

“Alex. Alex! Are you even listening to me right now?” Reggie’s voice feels like someone taking a sledgehammer to sheetrock, sudden and startling and _loud_ to Alex’s ears. He jumps, nearly falling off the bed they’re both sitting on.

“Shit, sorry Reg. What were you saying?” Alex tries for apologetic and sincere, but it just comes out as distracted and weak. He’s still staring at the wall of his bedroom, thumb wedged firmly between his teeth. His knee is starting to bounce.

“Dude, are you ok? You’re like. Ten times as jittery and shit as you usually are, and it’s not like you to zone out like this. What’s going on?” Reggie asks, eyebrows furrowed deeply. His cheeks are covered in a faint flush as he appears to be desperately trying to figure it out on his own.

Alex sighs, running a hand through his hair. “It’s nothing, Reg. Don’t worry about it.” His voice sounds tired, even to him, and he’s got just enough of his mind unoccupied to recognize that he’s just making it worse.

“Is it your parents?” Reggie’s voice is quiet, hesitant. Alex almost laughs drily at the irony of the situation; Reggie came to his house to escape his own parents, and now he’s worrying about Alex’s? No one can say Reggie is anything less than an absolute sweetheart.

Alex shakes his head. “It isn’t them; everything’s the same old, same old with them. It’s uh…” He clears his throat and ducks his head a little. He’s fucking _embarrassed_ and he hates it deeply.

Reggie’s eyebrows shoot up to his hairline. “Are you _blushing?_ It’s about a boy isn’t it? Tell me about him!” His expressive face goes through about ten emotions in the span of a few seconds, each easily readable despite their fleeting nature. His fidgety hands start playing with his necklace, twisting the chain as he plays with the pendant.

Alex huffs out a dry laugh. “I mean…I guess? It’s not about a _specific_ boy, but it’s definitely, uh, related?” He picks at the loose strings of his worn skinny jeans just to have something to focus on other than what he’s about to say.

“I uh. I heard about this, like, gay place not too far from here? And I really want to go but I’m so sure that something is going to go wrong and I just. I don’t know what to do.” He mumbles, chewing on his bottom lip. He’s absolutely skirting the topic, being as vague as possible, but he still wants the bed to swallow him to save him from his embarrassment.

“A gay place? Like a bar or something?” Reggie asks. He looks surprised when Alex shakes his head slowly. “Oh, I didn’t know there were places for you to hang that weren’t, like, bars or parades. And I’m realizing how stupid that sounds now.”

“It’s a, uh. It’s a bathhouse? And it’s…not exactly for ‘hanging out’.” Alex explains hesitantly, putting those last words in finger quotes. He desperately hopes that Reggie makes the inference here, so he won’t have to say it, but he’s not exactly banking on it. He loves Reggie, considers him a brother, but he’s not exactly the best with subtly.

“Then…. what is it for?” Reggie asks quietly. His head is tilted to the left inquisitively, and it reminds Alex so much of his childhood puppy that he has to stifle a laugh. He picks at his jeans for a moment to push off having to answer.

“It’saplacewheregaymengotohavesexwitheachother.” Alex says in one big rush. It’s partly so that Reggie won’t understand him, and partly because he knows if he slows down, he’ll stop himself from saying those words. This is the first time he’s ever said anything about this out loud, and his ears feel like they’ve been set on fire. His stomach curls with something like exhilaration and mortification.

Reggie just looks at him, dumbfounded, with his eyebrows creased and his lips moving silently as he tries to unravel what Alex just blurted out.

Alex drags his hand through his hair again. “It’s uh. It’s a place where gay men meet up to…to have anonymous sex with each other.” The words feel heavy and clumsy on his tongue, like he’s a little kid trying to pronounce elaborate scientific terms. Still, there’s an edge of excitement that’s sharpening the embarrassment and shame of admitting to something like this aloud.

Reggie’s face morphs into several expressions—confusion, shock, understanding, intrigue—before he speaks. “And you want to go there? To… “meet” people?” He asks slowly, like he’s having to piece together his sentences as he’s saying them. It makes sense; this is kind of a verbal minefield that even Alex doesn’t know how to navigate without something exploding.

“Um. Maybe? Like. I don’t know how to meet guys! I’m way too inept to like, hit on someone and engage with them long enough for anything to happen, and I’m _so fucking curious_ about so many things and this is like, my only avenue to that other than looking at porn on the family computer.” Alex is rambling and he knows it, but he’s been thinking about this nonstop since he saw a flyer for the place at the last concert he and Reggie went to almost a month ago. He feels like if he doesn’t talk about this stuff, he’s gonna implode like a pressure cooker with no vent.

Reggie looks intrigued more than anything else, and that’s probably the last thing he expected. “I mean, it sounds like a good idea, I guess? Like. If you’re curious about this stuff, then it makes sense to seek it out. It’s not much different from a straight kid picking someone up from a bar to hook up with, at least to me.” He shrugs like he didn’t just blow Alex’s fucking mind.

Alex blinks at him for a long moment. His brain is squeaking like a hamster wheel as he tries to process what Reggie just said. “You think it’s a good idea?” He asks, a little incredulous.

Reggie’s brows furrow again. “I mean, I guess. Why, do you have concerns about it?” He asks, the corner of his mouth tucked up as he thinks.

“I mean—I just—what about—I don’t know! It just seems kind of… dangerous? We’re always being told to not have sex like this because of how dangerous it is. What if something goes wrong?” Alex worries his lower lip with his teeth, peeling away some of the chapped skin there. He’s back to looking at his lap and restless hands.

He sees Reggie shrug out of the corner of his eye. “I dunno, man. You know how to like. Be safe with sex and stuff, right?” He waits until he sees Alex nod, “Then it should be fine!” He says, giving Alex a bright smile that he can’t quite return.

“I guess…” Alex mumbles, picking at the last remaining nail polish clinging to his ring finger. He digs his nails into his nailbed to scrape it off, taking off a few layers of keratin at times. He’s pretty sure he’s about to chew straight through his cheek.

“I mean, if you’re that concerned that something might happen, I could come with you. That way someone will be there to help and keep an eye on you.” Reggie beams. “Um, I mean, not like that though. Just to be like a safety net if you need it!” He’s blushing as he nudges Alex’s shoulder with his own, their kneecaps bumping a little uncomfortably.

Alex’s head snaps up so quickly he thinks he’s got whiplash. He stares at Reggie for a long moment, wide eyes unblinking. “Wait, what? Did you just say you’d come with me to a _gay sex place?”_ He hisses the last words as he hears one of his parents walk by his locked door. “Are you crazy?”

Reggie shrugs again. “Sure, why not? It sounds really interesting!” He says, giving Alex _another_ supernova grin. Alex feels like he’s gonna get burned if Reggie keeps doing this. He’s already frying Alex’s head, so it doesn’t feel that off base.

Now it’s Alex’s turn to furrow his brow hard enough to hurt. “Reg, men will be having sex there. _Publicly_. They’re gonna try and make a pass on you. Are you sure you’re okay with that?” He asks slowly. He’s half convinced Reggie’s lost his fucking mind when he nods.

“Alex, I understand, dude. I’m fine with that! It sounds like an interesting experience, and it’d help you figure a lot of stuff out, so why pass by the opportunity?” His smile is a little bashful, a little more subdued, but it’s no less sincere or genuine or _bright_.

“If you pick me up in the afternoon on, like, Saturday, we can go together! I’d drive but, y’know.” Reggie’s expression sours a little, and Alex fully understands; his car is in the shop with a busted windshield, courtesy of his father, his temper, and a mostly-empty handle of whisky.

Alex nods a little numbly. “Um, sure, I guess. It’s out in Venice, so it’s a bit of a drive, but that’s not a huge issue.” He shrugs awkwardly. He feels like he’s in a daze, but also a little like he’s just done speed. He’s very confused about how he should be feeling, as well as how he _is_ feeling.

Reggie smiles that megawatt smile again and says, “See you this weekend, then,” and Alex can’t do anything more than just nod.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm antiquatedgoth on Tumblr and 1890sgothsloth on Twitter, come bug me!  
> Title from Cotton Candy by Yungblud


End file.
